Google
Google LLC is an American multinational technology company that specializes in Internet-related services and products, which include online advertising technologies, search engine, cloud computing, software, and hardware. It is considered one of the Big Four technology companies, alongside Amazon, Apple and Facebook. Google was founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were Ph.D. students at Stanford University in California. Together they own about 14 percent of its shares and control 56 percent of the stockholder voting power through supervoting stock. They incorporated Google as a privately held company on September 4, 1998. An initial public offering (IPO) took place on August 19, 2004, and Google moved to its headquarters in Mountain View, California, nicknamed the Googleplex. In August 2015, Google announced plans to reorganize its various interests as a conglomerate called Alphabet Inc. Google is Alphabet's leading subsidiary and will continue to be the umbrella company for Alphabet's Internet interests. Sundar Pichai was appointed CEO of Google, replacing Larry Page who became the CEO of Alphabet. The company's rapid growth since incorporation has triggered a chain of products, acquisitions, and partnerships beyond Google's core search engine (Google Search). It offers services designed for work and productivity (Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides), email (Gmail/Inbox), scheduling and time management (Google Calendar), cloud storage (Google Drive), instant messaging and video chat (Google Allo, Duo, Hangouts), language translation (Google Translate), mapping and navigation (Google Maps, Waze, Google Earth, Street View), video sharing (YouTube), note-taking (Google Keep), and photo organizing and editing (Google Photos). The company leads the development of the Android mobile operating system, the Google Chrome web browser, and Chrome OS, a lightweight operating system based on the Chrome browser. Google has moved increasingly into hardware; from 2010 to 2015, it partnered with major electronics manufacturers in the production of its Nexus devices, and it released multiple hardware products in October 2016, including the Google Pixel smartphone, Google Home smart speaker, Google Wifi mesh wireless router, and Google Daydream virtual reality headset. Google has also experimented with becoming an Internet carrier (Google Fiber, Google Fi, and Google Station).Sam Byford, The Verge. "Google Station is a new platform that aims to make public Wi-Fi better ." September 27, 2016. Retrieved May 22, 2018. Google.com is the most visited website in the world. Several other Google services also figure in the top 100 most visited websites, including YouTube and Blogger. Google was the most valuable brand in the world but has received significant criticism involving issues such as privacy concerns, tax avoidance, antitrust, censorship, and search neutrality. Google's mission statement is "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful". The company's unofficial slogan "Don't be evil" was removed from the company's code of conduct around May 2018, but reinstated by July 31, 2018. See also * Outline of Google * History of Google * List of mergers and acquisitions by Alphabet * List of Google products * Google China * Google logo * Googlization * Google.org * Google ATAP References Further reading * External links * ** Corporate homepage * * * * }} Category:Google Category:1998 establishments in California Category:2004 initial public offerings Category:Alphabet Inc. Category:American websites Category:Artificial intelligence Category:Cloud computing providers Category:Companies based in Mountain View, California Category:Companies in the PRISM network Category:Computer companies established in 1998 Category:Computer-related introductions in 1998 Category:Internet companies of the United States Category:Internet marketing companies Category:Internet properties established in 1998 Category:Mobile phone manufacturers Category:Multinational companies headquartered in the United States Category:Online advertising Category:Technology companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Category:Technology companies established in 1998 Category:University spin-offs Category:Virtual reality companies Category:Web portals Category:Web service providers Category:Webby Award winners Category:World Wide Web Category:Eyewear companies of the United States Category:American corporate subsidiaries